New UPI Rules Effective August 1, 2025: What Every User Needs to Know

Starting August 1, 2025, major updates to UPI (Unified Payments Interface) usage rules will come into effect across all apps and banks. Issued by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), these rules are designed to improve system performance, reduce fraud risks, and ensure sustainable scalability as UPI continues to grow.

From stricter balance enquiry limits and API (Application Programming Interface) access caps to changes in autopay timings and credit-linked UPI transactions, these updates will impact both consumers and businesses. This blog outlines all the key changes, explains why they were introduced, and what you need to do to stay compliant.

Why Are These Changes Being Introduced?

The volume and value of UPI transactions have surged in recent years, putting significant strain on the system. In June 2025 alone, UPI recorded 18.4 billion transactions, amounting to over ₹24.04 lakh crore in value. The daily average reached approximately 613 million transactions, up from 602 million in May 2025. As of June, 675 banks were live on UPI, with usage continuing to expand into rural and international markets.

This exponential growth has caused spikes in system load, mandate failures, and delayed responses—especially during peak hours. The new rules aim to address these issues by:

• Reducing unnecessary background API calls
• Improving success rates for recurring mandates
• Preventing fraud from dormant or inactive accounts
• Ensuring faster and more consistent user experiences

What’s Changing? – A Rule-by-Rule Breakdown

The new UPI regulations are detailed and span multiple areas of user activity. Here’s a breakdown of the seven key updates taking effect from August 1, 2025:

1. Balance Enquiry Limits

Users can check their account balance through UPI only 50 times per app per day. This limit is strictly for manual, user-initiated requests. Apps will no longer be allowed to run background balance checks.

2. List Account API Restriction

The feature that displays all linked bank accounts (via the “List Account” API) is now capped at 25 requests per user, per app, per day. This aims to reduce unnecessary API load on banking infrastructure.

3. Scheduled Autopay Execution and Retry Cap

Recurring mandates like utility bills, OTT subscriptions, or loan EMIs will now execute only during designated non-peak time slots, and each mandate will be limited to a maximum of four total attempts (1 original + 3 retries). This dual control mechanism is intended to reduce failure rates and ease server load during peak traffic periods.

4. Inactive UPI ID Deactivation

Any UPI ID tied to a mobile number that has been inactive for more than 12 months will be automatically disabled to prevent misuse after number reassignment.

5. Stricter Bank Account Verification

New bank accounts added to UPI will undergo enhanced verification, including stronger user authentication and validation checks.

6. Reduced API Response Time

All UPI APIs related to core functions (transaction initiation, address validation, etc.) must now respond within 10 seconds, down from the previous 30-second allowance. This change is aimed at improving reliability during peak usage.

7. UPI Through Credit Lines

From August 31, 2025, users can make UPI payments and withdrawals using pre-approved credit lines (such as from banks or NBFCs), with limits set at:

• ₹1,00,000 per day for payments
• ₹10,000 per day for cash withdrawals
• 20 P2P(peer-to-peer) transfers per day

UPI by the Numbers: Why These Changes Matter

These updates come at a time when UPI is operating at unprecedented scale. ₹24.04 lakh crore worth of UPI transactions were recorded in June 2025 alone, across 18.4 billion transactions.

The system is averaging over 613 million transactions per day, making it one of the busiest real-time payment networks globally. Over 675 banks are now live on the UPI platform, and UPI is operational in eight international markets, including Singapore, UAE, and France.

According to NPCI and RBI data, UPI accounts for nearly 75% of all retail digital payments in India by volume. With such rapid growth, even small inefficiencies—like unchecked balance queries or slow mandates—can result in network congestion. These numbers make it clear: tighter control and faster execution aren’t just improvements; they’re essential.

How Will This Impact Users?

These changes will have varying levels of impact depending on how you use UPI. Here’s what different types of users should expect:

• Frequent Users
  If you habitually check your balance multiple times a day or switch between multiple UPI apps, the new caps (50 balance checks and 25 account list requests per app) will require you to be more mindful.
• Autopay Subscribers
  If you rely on UPI for automatic payments like subscriptions or EMIs, you may notice a change in when payments are debited.
• Users with Dormant Numbers
  If your mobile number has not been active for over a year—or if you’ve changed numbers recently—your UPI ID may be deactivated.
• Credit-Based Users
  Those using credit lines through UPI (launching end of August 2025) will need to adhere to the prescribed limits on usage, cash withdrawals, and transfers.

Why These Updates Are Good News

While some of these changes may feel restrictive at first glance, they are long overdue and serve a larger purpose:

• Faster Performance: By capping excess background API calls, NPCI ensures more bandwidth for actual transactions.
• Greater Security: Preventing dormant number misuse and enforcing stricter bank linking protocols reduce the risk of fraud.
• Better Mandate Reliability: Mandates will now process more smoothly within fixed time slots.
• Expansion-Ready Infrastructure: With UPI expanding into international markets and credit-backed payments, system efficiency and standardization are essential.

What’s Not Changing?

Despite the new rules, the core functionality and accessibility of UPI remain intact. Here’s what’s staying the same:

• P2P (Peer-to-Peer) and P2M (Person-to-Merchant) Transfers: You can still send and receive money seamlessly via UPI.
• No User Fees: There’s a lot of talks going around UPI’s sustainability as a free platform for payments. The good news is that UPI transactions remain free for individuals(Bank-to-Bank).
• QR Code Payments: QR-based in-store and merchant payments continue to function as usual.